Dont Disturb the Dead
by raccoonlikespineapple
Summary: Things at court were finally settling down. Jill is safe and Lissa has finally secured her place as Queen. When someone from Dimitri's past turns up, secrets are exposed and an unexpected encounter with an old friend raises more questions. What happens when the past come to back to haunt him in the present? One things for sure, at this point the unexpected has become the expected.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hi, so this is my first Fanfiction. I hope that you all like it! It may be slightly OOC. Takes place after Last Sacrifice. A bit of Blood Lines is mixed in there, so there are some spoilers. If you have not read Bloodlines yet, then parts of this story may seem a bit confusing, but not completely mind-spinning. Anyways, so here it is! I hope you like it! R&R!**

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RPOV

"Hi, my names Leena, Ill be your waitress today. Can I start y'all off with somethin to drink?" I looked up from my menu to see a perky girl dressed in a slutty denim skirt and a _very_ low cut salmon colored tank top with the name of the bar printed on it. Her blonde hair was in pigtails and had on light brown cowboy boots and matching cowboy hat. She was batting her eyelashes, which were either fake or covered in a ridiculously large amount of black mascara, looking at us expectantly. Well, she was looking more at Dimitri, Eddie, Adrian, and Christian than she was Lissa, Sydney, Jill and I, god damn bitch.

"Ill take a Bud Light" said Christian, sounding rather annoyed."Okiey-Dokie. What about the rest of y'all?" When everyone else ordered their drinks, she skipped off, not before winking towards all of the guys first though.

"I don't like her", Lissa said matter-o-factly. I snickered while Christian and Adrian laughed at her comment."What?!" she blurted out "She was flirting with Christian..." she pouted."Aww, don't worry Liss, Im not going anywhere." "You Promise?" She asked timidly,"I promise baby, Im not going to let you go." "Yeah, because you know that nobody else would ever want to date you. Lissa only keeps you around because she feels bad." I teased. "Rose!" Lissa slapped my arm,"stop it, thats not nice". Christian just smirked towards me. _Ass hole_, I thought.

Soon, the waitress came back and handed out our drinks her hand "accidentally" brushing Dimitri's. I growled. "Stupid bitch" I muttered. She walked away and I could faintly hear her having a conversation with who I assumed to be her boss."Alright, thanks. Have a good night" her boss said. "Kay, see you tomorrow!" She skipped out the door. Thank god, hopefully we wouldn't have to deal with another annoying waitress again."Hey, Im Pandora. Leena had to get going so she asked me to take over for her." said our new waitress in a gloomy voice. "Are you all ready to order or do you need more time?"

I looked up at her and saw that her face reflected her bore-dome. She had on a pair of faded blue skinny jeans and a tee shirt with the same words as blondies. She had on a cowboy hat similar to the other girls, but instead of cowboy boots, she had on black high-tops. Her dark copper hair was pulled back into a pony-tail and her steel grey eyes were almost invisible under the shadow that the hat cast on her face. She seemed vaguely familiar for some reason. I cleared my throat and ordered a steak. Everyone else went around and ordered and last was Dimitri. After a few moments of silence, I looked over at him expectantly, waiting for him to order. The look on his face wasn't one that I had seen often, and one I definitely wasn't expecting. He looked at the waitress in shock, his eyes were wide and his face pale, it was almost as if he had seen a ghost.

"You know, it really isn't polite to stare." I looked over at the waitress and saw that her bored expression had been replaced with a smirk, much like Christians. To say I was confused was an understatement. "You just gonna sit there lookin' like you've just seen a ghost or are you gonna order something? " The waitress continued. I looked back to Dimitri and he seemed even paler than he did before. I elbowed him softly to get his attention. He looked over at me, his face returning to its normal composure. "Er, Ill just have the same thing she's having" he managed to say.

"Alright, then. Your food should be ready in 15 to 20 minutes. If you need anything else just let me know" she said as she turned to walk away, the smirk never leaving her face.

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**So, what do you guys think? Should I continue, or should I drop it? Plrase R&R!**


	2. Chapter 2

Ch. 2

_"__Alright, then. Your food should be ready in 15 to 20 minutes. If you need anything else just let me know" she said as she turned to walk away, the smirk never leaving her face._

RPOV

"Hey Comrade, you okay?" I asked Dimitri. "Yeah", he said, not sounding too sure of himself. I knew he was lying, but I wasn't going to force the truth out of him. At least not now."So... Hows everything at court?" Jill asked, most likely trying to make things less awkward. "Oh, its good." Lissa replied. They along with the rest of the mori, started talking amongst each other. Of course, Sydney didn't contribute, probably not wanting to talk with "creatures of the night" any more that she had to. Dimitri was silent, as usual, his guardian mask fully back in place. Eddie was quiet as well, both he and Dimitri were in guardian mode. I didn't say anything either, not because I was supposed to be on guard, but because I was worried about Dimitri and a bit curious as to why he had reacted the way he did when he saw the waitress. Not long after, the waitress, Pandora I think her name was, came back and handed out everyone their food."I hope you all enjoy your meal and if you need anything else feel free to let me know." Her bored attitude was back in place, all traces of her previous smirk wiped away. I still wanted to know why she had started acting so smug when she took Dimitri's order, and why he reacted as well. As she turned to walk away, suddenly the sound of screaming caught my attention. It was too faint for any human to pick up on, and the mori were caught up in their conversation, I looked over at Dimitri and Eddie, and their expressions showed that they had heard it too. I glanced over where Pandora was before, expecting to see her walking towards the kitchen, or wherever she was supposed to go, but instead I caught a glimpse of her just as she darted out the door. Great, not only do we have to protect the queen, two additional royal mori, and an alchemist, but we also have to save a god damn human from who-knows-what. Great, this is just great. The three of us quickly got up and raced out the door, following the directions the screams were coming from. When we found the source of the screams, she was laying on the ground, lifeless. Her eyes staring out towards nothing, her lips slightly parted, her neck, and the rest of her body, covered in her own blood. When I looked away from the dead body, I just about went into shock at the sight before me. _Holy shit._ I thought to myself, my jaw dropping open.


	3. Chapter 3

**So... Here is chapter three! I am planning on posting one maybe two more chapter today, not sure though.**

**Disclaimer: All rights belong to Richelle Mead**

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Chapter 3

_When I looked away from the dead body, I just about went into shock at the sight before me. Holy shit. I thought to myself, my jaw dropping open._

PPOV (Pandora)

I ran towards the sound of screaming, only to find that I was too late, the victim was already dead. The strigoi looked up from the girls body, where he was draining the life out of her. "Looks like Im gonna be eating good tonight" he snarled, wiping the blood from his mouth. "You already had your snack, this ones mine" said another, walking out from the shadows. I gulped. One strigoi? Easy. Two? Not so much. "Sorry, Im not really in the mood to be a midnight snack" I said casually. Just because I may not be so confident that I can kill both of them, doesn't mean that I have to act like it. "Who says you have a choice?" said the first one. They both laughed, I honestly don't know what was so funny. I thought about it for a moment, trying to figure it out, but it was a moment too long. The one who hadn't had his "snack" yet lunged at me, I just barely stepped out of the way in time, but the other grabbed me from behind. He grabbed the side of my head, and as he was tilting it to get a better angle at my neck, he burst into flames. "Sorry, but like I said before, I don't really feel like being dinner" I said just before I lunged at the second one, gripping the flames in my hands like daggers. He stepped out of the way and I faltered. "You're a feisty one, I like my food a little spicy" the strigoi snarled. I growled and lunged for him again. He evaded my attack and grabbed my arm as I went towards him again, pushing me off balance. I stumbled forward but turned around just in time to avoid his attack. "As much fun as this was" I started, "Im beginning to get bored." I roundhouse kicked him in the chest then used one of my "daggers" to stab him in the heart, just like you would a steak. Instead of falling to the ground though, his entire body burst into flames, and he was dead seconds later. I turned around to head back to the bar, hoping that nobody noticed my absence. That, of course, would be to convenient though. The first thing I noticed when I turned around was that instead of being in complete control of their emotions, all but one of the three guardians was looking back and forth between where the strigoi had stood, and me in shock. The third just had a blank expression, a knowing look in his eyes.

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**Sooooo... What do ya think? Please R&R!**


	4. Chapter 4

**And heres chapter 4! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: All rights are property of Richelle Mead**

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Chapter 4

The third just had a blank expression, a knowing look in his eyes.

RPOV

"What? Never seen a strigoi fight before? And here I thought that you all were a group of trained guardians." The waitress said, the smirk on her face again. "But you're... They... How... What the hell?" I asked, completely in shock. How the hell did a emhuman /emnot only just conjure, summon, create or whatever it is, fire but also manage to kill two strigoi who both were at least twice her size, and live through it? "Whats wrong? Didn't think a human would be able to kill a strigoi? Well, you were wrong." She said smugly. "Pan-" Dimitri started, "Don't you "Pan" me, Im still angry with you!" she snapped. Now I was even more confused. Who was she and how did she know Dimitri and why was she angry at him? Was she an ex-girlfriend that he broke up with and was still angry about it? Just the thought of him being with another woman made my blood boil. "I told you I was sorry, what more do you want me to say? There wasn't anything I could do!" He growled, running his hand through his hair, clearly frustrated. "You think Im angry at you for that? No Im angry at you for leaving without doing so much as saying goodbye!" She shouted. "Whoa, whats with all the yelling? I thought you guys went off to do your guardian thing, not start a fight with the waitress." I looked behind me and saw Adrian and the rest of the gang standing there. I wonder how much they saw. "Shut the hell up!" Pandora snapped at him, then turned back to Dimitri. They started yelling at each other and I figured that it would be best if I just let them be. I walked over towards everyone else and explained the fight between the waitress and the strigoi. When I mentioned the thing about the fire, I heard Sydney gasp. I looked over at her, silently asking if she was okay. She replied by nodding her head. The yells were beginning to get louder and it was becoming more and more difficult to ignore. "What the hell was that for!?" I heard Dimitri exclaim. I looked over to see him staring between the girl and his blood-covered hand. Wait, blood? I looked again and noticed that blood was streaming down his face. He appeared to have a broken nose, which Im guessing was the reason for his outburst. "Thats for being an ass hole." She stated very matter-o-factly, crossing her arms. He looked like he was about to respond when her phone started quacking. Yes, emquacking/em, like a god damn duck. She put a finger up, gesturing for him to be quiet. She looked down at her phone after retrieving it from her back pocket. "Shit" she muttered. "I gotta go, I'll yell at you later. Bye!" She said and turned around, running off. "Wait, where are you going?" Dimitri asked, sounding concerned. "The goddamn babysitter just texted me that Ruby got sick! I've got to go back to her. See ya!" Wait, she had a kid? She looked younger than me, how the hell did she have a kid? Holy shit, what if it was Dimitri's kid too?! I still hadn't eliminated her from being his ex-girlfriend, shit! Anger surged through me. Did he know? Is that why he left? Was she even his ex? If not, then who the hell was she? "Wait, what? What babysitter? What the hell are you talking about?" Dimitri shouted. "You comming? Or are you just going to leave us like you did last time?" She yelled back, before continuing to run to what I assumed to be where "Ruby" and her babysitter were. Oh man, was Dimitri in serious trouble. He looked back at me, obviously conflicted. "Come on, lets go with her. Might as well go see what the hell is going on." And with that, the two of us raced after her, the others following closely behind us.

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**What do you think is going on? Please R&R!**

**Again, another short chapter I know, but I once again thought that this would be a good place to stop this chapter. The next chapter is much longer than the previous ones and is my favorite so far! Questions or comments? Feel free to review and/or PM me!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N To ****_Guest:_**** Thank you so so so much for reviewing! I really appreciate your input and I hope that this chapter is better! I took your advice into consideration when writing and reviewing this chapter! Words cannot express how much I appreciate your opinion!**

**To Others: I will admit, I am a bit disappointed that there was only one review but Im not going to dwell on it because I am in too good of a mood to finally get my first review! Also, just to warn you in advance, Im most likely going to act like a ton of people are reading this story since it makes me feel good and because I am really enjoying writing this! Not sure why I felt the need to say that though... Anyhow! On to the disclaimer and story!**

**Disclaimer: All rights belong to Richelle Mead**

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Chapter 5

_He looked back at me, obviously conflicted. "Come on, lets go with her. Might as well go see what the hell is going on." And with that, the two of us raced after her, the others following closely behind us._

PPOV

_Damnit, how hard is it to watch one single two year old? _I thought to myself.

I mean sure, Ruby may be able to chase and catch a squirrel, or bird, or any other rodent, and yeah she may bite and be very loud, but seriously? She is not that hard to look after. Just wear her energy out, give her some food and water and she will sleep for a good two hours. But no, instead of doing what he was supposed to do, the babysitter got my baby girl sick.

Okay, fine. Maybe it wasn't actually his fault that Ruby is sick, but I was already in a bad mood because of my fight with Belikov earlier so I wasn't exactly in the greatest mood. Sure, I used to have a blast messing with him (and apparently I still do), but he still irritates the hell out of me. I guess some things never change.

When I reached the parking lot of the run-down apartment complex that I live in, I looked behind me and saw that just like I hoped, Dimitri was trying to figure out what the hell was going on, and even better, he brought multiple people to witness his own downfall. Okay, fine maybe I'm exaggerating a bit by calling it his downfall, but that would be just as fun to watch, if not better.

I smirked waiting for them to catch up once I reached the entrance to the building. They actually weren't that far behind me, maybe twenty or so feet, considering that along with the two other guardians, there were four mori and an alchemist tagging along.

"Took you long enough"I muttered. "Well so sorry that not all of us include a fricken marathon in our daily work-out routine"One of the mori said, trying to catch his breath. I rolled my eyes. "Whatever."

He was tall, maybe 6'3". He had brown hair that was styled to look kinda messy, green eyes, and pasty skin (all mori did). He was wearing a pair of dark jeans that looked brand new, and a scarlet colored button up shirt, with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and the first two buttons down were undone.

"Can someone please tell me what the heck is going on", another mori panted. I recognized her as Vasilisa Dragomir, the queen of the mori world. "Nah." I stated. "Don't really feel like it."

She was wearing a blue denim skirt that stopped just above her knees, a white cardigan over a plain lilac tank top that complemented her jade green eyes. Her long, platinum hair was tied in a braid down her back. She also wore a pair of simple black ballet flats, an emerald pendant on a silver chain around her neck, and what appeared to be an engagement ring. _Interesting._ I thought to myself.

"You can either tell us what the hell is going on or Ill beat it out of you", one of the guardians said, Hathaway I think was her name, through clenched teeth.

She may not have been that tall, but she was intimidating as hell. Not that I would admit it to her of course. Her long brown, almost black, waist length hair was pulled back into a loose bun, a few strands falling around her face, from running I assumed. She wasn't dressed like your average guardian though, then again, from what I have heard, she wasn't your average guardian.

She had on a pair of faded jeans and a white tee-shirt under a short black jacket. She also had a pendant shaped like an eye, hanging around her neck and a bracelet with what I think was the Dragomir family crest on it, I didn't see it too well though so I could have been wrong. She had on black tennis shoes and her stake on her hip.

"You can try but I doubt that the end result would work out in your favor." I smirked. She made a low growling sound and glared at me, one hand was on the stake at her hip, and the other was clenched into a fist. I wondered if she had a temper that could rival my own.

The others finally caught up. One of them was a mori with jet black hair and ice blue eyes. He wore black jeans, a black shirt and jacket, and black tennis shoes. _Guess he likes to wear a lot of black. _I thought.

The other mori looked much younger than everybody else in the group, 15 or 16 at most. She wore her medium brown hair down, stopping just a bit past her shoulder blades. She had on a pair of dark blue jean shorts that stopped just past her knees and a canary yellow shirt that had white stitching along the hem and the seam. It had a neckline that stopped just below her collar bone and sleeves that stopped just before her elbow. She wore white strappy sandals that were flat, a silver heart shaped locked around her neck and what looked like colorful woven friendship bracelets on her arm. Her eyes were the same jade green as Vasilisa's. _This must be Vasilisa's half sister. _I thought.

The alchemists golden blonde hair that was tied up neatly in a tight bun and she had dark amber colored eyes. She wore a professional looking charcoal blazer and matching pants with a crisp white shirt and black ballet flats. She had a small cross around her neck that appeared to have small flowers, which were nearly invisible, on it and the signature metallic golden lilly on her cheek that alchemists had. She was also really thin, mori thin, and she looked like you could snap her in half as easily as you could with a toothpick.

The fourth person was a dampher with sandy blonde hair and brown eyes. He wore your typical guardian uniform, white shirt, black blazer, black pants and stake.

"Easy Roza" said the last person in the group, chuckling. "She isn't going to hurt anyone." He had chin length brown hair that hung loosely and chocolate brown eyes. He wore jeans, a grey tee-shirt and tan combat boots along with his signature brown duster. I wouldn't be surprised if he hadn't even taken it off since the last time I saw him. I hate that damn thing, I really don't know why though. Maybe it was just because he irritated me so much, which is a completely rational reason for hating it.

She turned to him and crossed her arms. "How do you know? She could attack at any second. We don't know her and she just took down two strigoi by herself, I think that if she wanted to hurt one of them" she said pointing towards the mori and alchemist, "she would be able to. She is a potential threat to Lissa and all of the others safety. You cannot be sure that she isn't going to hurt

anyone." She said, anger clearly shown in her voice.

"I know her, and I know that if she wanted to hurt anyone of us, she would have already done it." He replied calmly, which made me pissed off.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" I started. "Who the hell said that I don't _want _to hurt any of you, I want to rip your eyes out then slit your throat after I get bored of listening to your screams of pain and agony, slit your throat right where your voice box is so that you cant make any noise and I then watch you die in one of the most painful ways imaginable." I started pointing at Dimitri. "But _will_ I? Not at the moment. There is a difference between wanting to hurt someone and actually doing it. So no, I _will_ not hurt anyone of you because I have no reason to hurt the rest of you. Now if you all were to happen to witness me murdering him" I pointed at Dimitri again "_then_ I would have a reason to hurt the rest of you." I stated matter-o-factly.

Belikov just rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Now what is it you want?" He said giving me a I-am-dead-serious-do-not-mess-with-me look.

"I think I should be the one asking you that. You're the ones who followed me home, I just asked you if you were coming or not. I never made you come over here."

He narrowed his eyes at me then gave an exasperated sigh. "Lets just get this over with." he muttered. I glared at him and opened the door to the front entrance of the building.

"Whatever. Fine. Are you coming or not?" I asked. He gave me a slight nod, which made Guardian Hathaway give him an -are-you-kidding-me look. He either didn't notice or he just decided to ignore her because he just started following me. She sighed and motioned the others to follow, nodding towards the blonde guardian, probably telling him to stay alert. He nodded back and the rest started following me to my shitty apartment.

After we walked up three flights of stairs and then down the long hallway, we finally reached my apartment. I opened the door, knowing that it would be unlocked. Within seconds of me opening the door, a little ginger beagle was bolting in our direction, barking at the intruders. "Hi sweetie, how are you? I missed you!" I cooed at the dog. She jumped up to say hello to me then went to bark at the unknown intruders.

RPOV

"Awww! She is so cute!" Lissa squealed. The dog took an immediate liking towards her and was already showering her with kissed. I gaged. How did she let a dog lick her face? It was bad enough that I had to watch her and Christian, but now I also have to watch her and the dog suck each-others faces? Blech. "Whats her name?" asked Jill excitedly. She too was receiving dog kisses now and the two sisters were in love.

"Ruby." Pandora stated, smiling at the three of them. Wait what? We came all the way up here to see a damn dog? What the hell? What kind of dog had a babysitter? I looked at Dimitri and was about to say something but he seemed oblivious to his surroundings. His attention was on something, or should I say _someone_ else. I followed his gaze and saw that he was paying attention to a man with platinum blonde hair, similar to Lissa's, who was sitting on the couch playing some video game, unaware that anyone was around. For the second time that night, he looked as if he had seen a ghost, however this time, he seemed much more shocked, in fact, he almost seemed to be afraid of the person who was in front of him. The man shouted in what I assumed to be victory, throwing his hands up. "YES! I finally beat it!" Pandora walked over and smacked him on the back of his head. "Hey, what was that for?" he asked, clearly caught off guard. She glared at him, then nodded her head in our direction. He turned to look and the smile on his face vanished. I was about to ask Dimitri who this was, but he answered it for me. His eyes widened as the the man turned to look at us.

"Ivan." he whispered.

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**So? What do you all think? I am hoping to get more reviews, so as always, please R&R! Also, thank you again to ****_Guest_**** for giving me advice and helping me with this story! I highly appreciate it and if you're reading this then I hope that you enjoyed this chapter! If anyone has any suggestions or things that they want to see happen in this story then please feel free to PM me!**

**-raccoonlikespineapple**


	6. Chapter 6

**So, here's chapter six! A lot of this one was mostly fluff but I love fluff and I couldn't resist! To XxXLittle-VampXxX: Thank you for your review! I'm glad you liked it!**

**Now, on with the story!**

**Disclaimer: All rights belong to Richelle Mead**

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Chapter Six

_"YES! I finally beat it!" Pandora walked over and smacked him on the back of his head._

_"Hey, what was that for?" he asked, clearly caught off guard. She glared at him, then nodded her head in our direction. He turned to look and the smile on his face vanished. I was about to ask Dimitri who this was, but he answered it for me. His eyes widened as the man turned to look at us._

_"Ivan." he whispered._

RPOV

"Ivan, as in Ivan Zelikos, your old charge?" I asked, completely dumbstruck.

Ivan turned and whispered something to Pandora, which earned him another smack on the back of the head.

"Seriously? You see your best friend for the first time in years and the first thing that comes out of your mouth is 'She's hot'? " Pandora said to Ivan. "Then again, why am I not surprised?" She said. He just shrugged in response.

I looked over at Dimitri, who still looked like he was in shock. I elbowed him lightly, which snapped him out of his state of shock. He looked over at me, his guardian mask back in place, his face void of all emotion. His eyes however told a different story. They held a mixture of emotions. Surprise, confusion, excitement. Everything that you would expect a person to feel after seeing that their dead best friend standing in front of them, very much alive. However, his eyes also showed emotions that confused me. Hurt, anger, even betrayal. Wouldn't he be happy to see his best friend for the first time in years?

"Dimitri? What is it? What's wrong?" Lissa asked soothingly. I looked over and saw that everyone's attention was now on Dimitri. I saw Jill was holding a squirming Ruby.

"Never thought I'd see the day that the famous Dimitri Belikov would be caught off guard." Adrian stated. I shot him a glare. He opened his mouth to say something else but then decided against it.

Dimitri shot him a look that said "shut up or I'll beat the shit out of you". He then looked towards Lissa, then me, over to Ivan and Pandora, then back to Lissa.

"Nothing. I'm fine. Sorry, I was just caught off guard." He said, giving Lissa a reassuring smile.

"Clearly" Adrian snorted, which earned him a glare from a pissed of Russian. He could be pretty damn scary when he wanted to be. Pandora punched Ivan in the arm and gave him a loock that said "say something you idiot".

"Oh, uh, erm, Hi?" Ivan said awkwardly while rubbing the back of his neck nervously. Pandora just rolled her eyes.

"Seriously? I go through all the trouble to get him back and all either of you do is stand there doing looking like a pair of idiots? Would it hurt you that much to say 'thank you'? Sheesh." Pandora said.

"Hey, I have said thank you multiple times. Does my thanks mean nothing to you?" Ivan said with mock hurt.

"Idiot" she mumbled under her breath.

"So…" Christian started "anyone care to share what the hell is going or do the rest of us just have to stand here in confusion?" He asked looking towards Dimitri.

"Oh, um, yeah sorry I'm Ivan. Um, I was Dimitri's old charge so yeah…" Ivan stated awkwardly.

"But you died, are you shadow kissed or something?" I asked. The only way to bring someone back from the dead was for a spirit user to heal them, which created a bond between the two. But if he was shadow-kissed, then where was the spirit user who saved him?

"No, he's not" Adrian started. "If he was his aura would have a lot more darkness in it. All of the people I've met who were shadow kissed have some kind of darkness in their aura. Not necessarily as much as yours does" he said, looking at me, "but there's still something there. He doesn't have any darkness in his though."

"What the hell are you all talking about? I'm not shadow kissed, whatever the hell that means" Ivan said, muttering the last part to himself.

This time, it was Jill who spoke up. "When your shadow kissed then that means that you were killed but then brought back to life by a spirit user, like Rose and I are." She explained. I shot her a look.

"What? Everybody else in here already knows about it." She said in response. I just sighed.

"If you weren't brought back to life by a spirit user then how are you alive?" Sydney asked curiously.

"Yeah, that's what I want to know" Eddie piped in, the others just nodding their head in agreement. Even I was a little curious, although that's not really surprising. I looked at Dimitri and saw that his eyes were ablaze with anger.

"Yeah, please share with us why Ivan isn't dead. Care to explain Pandora?" Dimitri asked, glaring at her.

"Fine don't celebrate that your best friend is alive. I see how it is." Ivan said with mock hurt.

"He was dead and now he isn't. What else is there to explain?" Pandora said with a smirk on her face. She clearly wasn't telling the whole story.

"You know what I mean" Dimitri growled.

"How about we go out some time and I'll explain it to you then? It's kinda a long story and honestly, I'm a bit irritated that you didn't even introduce me top everyone" she responded.

"What do you want to do? Go around in a circle and have everyone say their name and tell the others about themselves?" Dimitri spat at her.

"Actually, yeah. That sounds like fun!" Pandora replied excitedly. "Should we go clockwise or counter clockwise? I'm thinking coulter clockwise just because-"

"Or you could tell me what the hell you did before I lose my patience with you." Dimitri interrupted.

"Nope. I'll tell you but only if we sit down in a fucking circle and introduce ourselves like were in fucking kindergarten" Pandora growled. Something told me that she was serious though.

"No. You can either tell me what you did or I can force it out of you. It's your choice."

"What are you going to get one of the mori to use compulsion on me?" she snapped. "You remember what happened last time that happened? I can guarantee that if you do use compulsion on me that I'll send them to the ER and you know I will." She said darkly. All of the anger and frustration that Dimitri had shown in his eyes disappeared and turned back to the calming chocolate brown that I loved so much. He took a deep breath.

"Fine" he said. We can introduce ourselves but only if you swear that after that you'll explain what you did." He said his voice much calmer now. Pandora's face lit up like a kid on Christmas day.

"Deal!" She replied excitedly. "There's enough space in the living room for everyone to sit down. Does anyone want anything to drink before we start? I've got water, orange juice, and expired milk. There might also be one or two cokes left. Oh! And if you want I could see if we have any powder mix and make some lemonade if anyone wants that." She rambled on, not taking a single breath. "Also, I think-"

"I think we get the point, let's just calm down and see if anyone wants anything to drink. Okay?" Ivan softly interrupted her, placing a hand on her shoulder to calm her.

"Oh yeah, sorry I have a tendency to ramble on." She looked down, clearly embarrassed.

"It's okay. I do that too." Lissa said, giving her a reassuring smile. Pandora's excitement quickly returned. How could she be so cocky and threatening one minute then like a little kid another?

DPOV

I sighed. If it were anyone else, I would have refused to agree to this. But how could I? She was like my little sister and I knew that no matter how hard I tried, I wouldn't win. She could be as stubborn as Roza, if not more. Besides, seeing her happy like this always made me smile. There's one part of her that's arrogant, violent, short-tempered and would take on the world without hesitation. The other part of her though is just like a kid. It's like she's two different people, but at the same time it isn't. No matter how much of a kid she may seem like, I know that she can snap at any moment. She may seem like some scrawny teenager who could break apart at any moment, but inside, she's just like my Roza. She's just as strong, stubborn, dedicated, and loyal. Pandora would have been a great Guardian if it weren't for her temper. Both she and Roza have a temper that could rival one another, but the difference is that Roza has learned to control her temper. Pandora on the other hand is set off by the smallest things and when it is set off, it's a hell of a lot harder to get her to calm down that it is for Roza. They both have a lot in common but are also completely different. Roza is the love of my life, my soul mate. Pandora on the other hand is like my sister. She's annoying, irritating and there are, well were, days that I just wish I could strangle her. I may be cold towards her but she knows how I really see her. Now that I think about it, the relationship between Pandora and I is a lot like Roza and Christian's, they annoy the hell out of each other and make fun of one another but they both trust each other and are willing to die for those that they care about. The difference between the two groups is that while Roza and Christian may fight a lot, they work well together when fighting for something and they have each other's backs while Pandora and I can't work together no matter how much we try. She can't stand having to work with others no matter how much they may get along. Pandora just can't stand having to have some sort of faith in someone else, which is what makes her so difficult to work with and she can't stand it when others rely on her in some way. To sum it up, she is a pain in the ass to deal with, hates working with others, is stubborn as hell, has a ridiculously short temper, either acts like a kid or a bitch (her words, not mine), and is like my little sister. Then again though, when it comes to Pandora, all that is just the tip of the iceberg.

PPOV

After I got everyone something to drink, we all sat in a circle just like you would in kindergarten. The circle however, was more like a disfigured square, and it was driving me crazy.

"Okay, this is not a circle." I stated.

"So? It's not a big deal" said the mori with the black hair and blue eyes. I just growled in response.

"So, what exactly is it we're doing?" Asked the mori with the green eyes and styled hair. He was sitting next to the Alchemist on his right and the mori girl with the brown hair and green eyes on his left. Next to the alchemist was the mori with the blue eyes, Vasillissa, Guardian Hathaway, Belikov, Ivan, and then me, and finally the guardian with the blonde hair.

**(Eddie, Jill, Adrian, Sydney, Christain, Lissa, Rose, Dimitri, Ivan, Pandora)**

"My god! It's not that fucking hard! We go around counter clockwise and say our names then I explain why Ivan isn't dead like he should be!" I exclaimed. These people were serioiusly pissing me off. kindergarteners have an easier time remembering all this.

"Hey! I'm hurt! What do you mean I should be dead? I knew that you could be mean but I didn't know you could be that mean!" Ivan said with mock hurt. I have a feeling though that he was actually kind of upset. Oh well. I sighed

"Does anyone want to go first?" I asked.

"I'll go" said Vasilissa. She seemed to be in a cheerful mood. Better than wallowing in self-pity like certain Russain who everyone thought was hot or sexy or whatever. Honestly, I don't see it. Everyone just nodded their head, most likely thinking "this is stupid" or "let's just get this over with" or even "what the hell is the point of this?"

"Well I'm Lissa and I'm Queen of the mori world." She said, looking around awkwardly.

"Wait, I thought we were just saying our names" said the alchemist.

"Are we supposed to say our job or something too?" Asked the mori man with the green eyes.

"Oh my fucking god!" I started. "Fine whatever just get the hell on with it!" The alchemist cringed at my choice of words.

"What if we don't have a job though" said the mori with the blue eyes. I had to fight the urge to smack that smirk off of his face.

"THEN DON'T FUCKING SAY ANYTHING! It's your turn so go damnit!" I was starting to get really irritated. I could feel the tips of my fingers start to tingle and heat up in anger. He opened his mouth to say something, probably some smart ass response but must have decided against it.

"Fine" he grumbled. "Christain. I'm Lissa's boyfriend" he said.

"Um, er, I'm Sydney and I'm an alchemist" said the alchemist quietly.

"I'm Adrian Ivashkov and I'm an art student"

"I'm Jill and well, I'm still in high school."

"I'm Guardian Eddie Castellie."

"I'm Pandora. I'm a waitress as you know."

"I'm Ivan and apparently I am not wanted here." I rolled my eyes at him.

"Guardian Belikov"

"Guardian Rose Hathaway." And with that we were done.

"Finally!" I exclaimed.

"It was your idea" said Dimitri coldly.

"You know what, shut fuck up." I responded. He just rolled his eyes.

"Now are you going to tell me why Ivan isn't dead or is one of them going to have to use compulsion?" He said pointing towards the mori.

"You wouldn't." I said narrowing my eyes at him.

"Pandora", he said through gritted teeth, clearly becoming frustrated.

"Okay okay fine! Sheesh, no need to- Oh! We forgot about Ruby! Ruby has to go first!" I remembered, knowing that that would make him even more irritated. "That's Ruby and she's a puppy" I pointed at Ruby who was currently asleep in Lissa's lap. Her head lifted slightly at her name, but she then laid her head back down, her eyes remaining open.

"Will you just explain yourself now!" Snapped Dimitri, clearly reaching his limit. As much as I love making him loose his temper, I really wasn't in the mood to deal with a pissed off Russian. Everyone just looked at me, waiting for an answer. And their faces were priceless when I gave them one.

"Necromancy."

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**So? How's you like it? Please R&R!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Just so you all know, I'v made some minor changes in previous chapters, so if you want to go back and re-read them, then that's great. If not, that's fine too! Also, I'm not going to give you any excuse for not having updated in so long other than lack of motivation. Warning: From this point on, the story will contain some serious spoilers from Bloodlines Series. If you haven't read them, then it will make much more sense if you read those first. (up to Fiery Heart). Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: All rights belong to Richelle Mead**Chapter 7

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_"Will you stop trying to avoid my question?!" Snapped Dimitri, clearly reaching his limit. "What the hell did you do?!" As much as I love making Dimitri lose his temper, I really wasn't in the mood to deal with a pissed off Russian. Everyone just looked at me, waiting for an answer. And their faces were priceless when I gave them one._

_"Necromancy."_

**Sydney POV**

I gasped as realization hit me. She was a witch as well. _That explains the fire thing that Rose was talking about, _I thought to myself.

"In order successfully reincarnate someone, it would require an extremely powerful and highly skilled witch. I've heard that quite a few witches have attempted to do it in the past, but it's very rare that they would succeed. In fact, I don't think I've ever heard of a witch that has been successful at reincarnation." I said, voicing my thoughts aloud. "Not to mention that necromancy involves a lot of dark magic, and that even the simplest mistakes almost always result in very severe consequences…" I trailed off.

"Well, from what I can tell, you're not too bad a witch yourself" Pandora said to me, smirking.

Looking around the room, everyone was looking at me, and it made me feel self-conscious. Pandora had a smirk on her face clearly amused by what I had said. Ivan looked at me, clearly shocked by my words. Dimitri and Eddie, as usual, had on their, as Rose calls it, 'guardian mask'. Jill was smiling, the kind that said _'I know something the rest of you don't'_. Adrian was grinning at me, a proud look in his eyes saying _'that's my girlfriend'_. While Rose, Lissa, and Christian had expressions that said _'you're kidding right?'_. Lastly, Ivan just looked bored and was having trouble keeping his eyes open. The only sound that could be heard was the dog, Ruby, snoring while curled up asleep in Christian's lap, who didn't seem to happy about it. I began to panic.

"What, did I say something wrong? I didn't think before I spoke, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset anyone." I was panicking; I didn't like all of this attention. Not one bit. "Hey, babe, it's okay, you didn't say anything wrong. You have nothing to apologize for" Adrian said softly, pulling me into a soothing hug. I immediately felt better.

"Huh" Pandora began. "I never would have thought that an alchemist and a moroi would be dating." She muttered, probably more to herself than to anyone else.

"Wait! You're dating someone!" Rose screeched! "Why was I not informed of this?!" She yelled, making me cringe. "Sorry, I just felt like it would be best if I didn't tell anyone that we were together" I said in a small voice.

"We, as in you and Adrian?" She looked at me in disbelief. "Sorry Little Dhamper, you and Cradle Robber over there decided to get back together, so I assumed that you were no longer head-over-heels about me." Adrian began, clearly enjoying Rose's reaction. She just snorted in response, Dimitri on the other hand just glared at him.

"Wait, so when Adrian asked you to dance at Sonya and Michel's wedding, it wasn't because Adrian was just being Adrian, you guys were already together?" She asked me. "Err, no. We weren't together then" I said, feeling as though I was being interrogated. "She doesn't want to admit it but she was already helpless in love with me." Adrian began. "And who could blame her? What's not to love?" He said, grinning widely.

"I could come up with a list if you want, and I'm sure that Dimitri would be more than happy to be a co-author" Christian said, his usual smirk plastered on his face.

**Pandora POV**

I was highly amused at how everyone seemed more shocked at the fact that Sydney was dating someone than they were about her being a witch. Sure, it was a royal moroi, but still, I think that the magic thing is a bit more shocking.

"I love how you're all more shocked by the fact that she's in a relationship than that she's a witch. It's highly amusing watching you all." I said while smirking.

"Well, honestly, I think that we're all just so used to crazy unnatural stuff happening that when something new comes up, it doesn't really effect us" said Lissa. "Yeah, I'm with Lissa, the Sydney Sage and Adrian Ivashkov thing is way more unnatural than the witchcraft thing. " Christian agreed. Rose nodded in agreement. The witchcraft thing didn't surprise Dimitri at all, due to the fact that he's been the victim of quite a few magic-involved injuries, pranks, and all that good stuff, and the same applies to Ivan.

"Wait, you guys seem like you've known this the whole time—and you guys _have _known about this the entire time." Rose said, the knowing looks on Eddie and Jill's faces told her the truth. They did know the entire time.

"I only found out because of the bond with Adrian and he know almost immediately. Eddie found out later though." Jill explained.

"Of course you did" Rose muttered to herself. Dimitri just chuckled at this.

"And let me guess, you knew about this too." She said, looking at Dimitri, he looked at her guiltily. "Yeah, unfortunately I did." He muttered, glaring in my direction.

**Christian POV**

"So just to make sure I've got this all straight", I began "Ivan died, but was brought back to life by Pandora, who's a witch." "Yeah, in more than one way" muttered Ivan. This earned him a slap on the back of the head from Pandora. "Sydney, who is also a witch, is dating Adrian. And you guy's are what?" I asked, pointing towards Ivan and Pandora. "Splitting rent due to the fact that our jobs suck and if something breaks then there's someone else to blame it on." She said quickly.

"That makes sense. Ivan, where do you work?" Lissa asked politely. That's my girl, always the polite one.

**Rose POV**

"I work at this store that's a few buildings down the street from here" was his response.

"He dresses up like a cowboy for a living." Pandora cut in. "Hey, I do not! I'm a salesperson!" "Yeah, who dresses up like a cowboy." "It's required for my job! Everyone has to do it!" "Yeah, and my job requires me to wear boots and a hat, but you don't see me complaining about it." "Seriously, you complain about it all the time!" "No, I don't. I simply make it very clear that I hate my job" Pandora stated matter-o-factly. "It's the same thing!" Ivan protested. "No it's not!" "Yes it-" before Ivan could finish his sentence, he was cut off by Dimitri, who smacked the back of his head (much like Pandora had done, just not nearly as hard) and then did the same thing to Pandora, but this time with a bit more force than he did with Ivan.

"Will both of you stop arguing! Or at least stop yelling" he said, looking highly irritated. "Seriously, was that really necessary?" Pandora snapped at him. "Let it go, you don't have to have the last word, it'll just start trouble" he said, probably about to give her one of his famous 'Zen lessons'. "But he started it!" That earned her another slap on the back of the head. "Stop acting immaturely" he said, using the same tone that you would use to tell a child not to do something. She clearly reached her snapping point when he said that, I would too if someone said that I was acting immature.

"You think that's immature? I'll show you what being immature is you stupid, idiotic, cruel, promise-breaking, pathetic excuse for a friend." She growled. And with that, she tackled him, well, she tried to, but he stepped out of the way easily. This made her even angrier, and she jumped up and somehow managed to get him into a choke-hold without actually knocking him over. She had her arms wrapped around his neck (non-romantically), clearly trying to cut off his oxygen supply.

**Dimitri POV**

Clearly I had forgotten how strong of a grip she had because it seemed like the more I tried to pry her arms from around my neck, the tighter her grip became. Usually, I would have just flipped my opponent off of me, but she knew this, and knew to warp her legs around my abdomen so that I wouldn't escape if did try to flip her. I could also have just fallen backwards, and hopefully the impact would cause some damage, but I just wanted to get her off of me, not kill her. The impact would probably do a lot more damage to her than it would if I were to do it with another guardian or a strigoi. Pandora though was about a foot shorter than me, and I weighed more than twice as much as her, so the impact would cause much more damage than a few broken ribs. I was starting to feel light headed, which meant that if I didn't get her off soon, I would probably pass out within the next two minutes, if not sooner. Then I remembered something that she did to me when we were younger and when I had the upper hand. I knew I was going to regret this, and I hated doing it, especially since I turned back into a dhamper, not to mention that I will never ever hear the end of it but I really needed her to get off of me, or at least loosen her grip on my neck. Before I could change my mind or pass out (whichever would have come first), I did it. I managed to turn my head enough so that I could bite her arm.

She immediately loosened her grip and I used this opportunity to pry her away. I didn't bite her hard, I just bit her enough so that she would be shocked enough to loosen her grip. She ended up being pulled away by Eddie, who made sure that there was enough distance between the two of us for her to not choke me again.

"You ass hole!" She shouted, surprise laced into her words. "What the hell did you bite me for!" "I really didn't feel like crushing you and I couldn't think of any other way that would distract you enough for you to loosen your grip."

I'd have to make sure that I kept my distance from her for the rest of the night; she might attack me again. Although I will say, I was thankful that she had her arms and legs wrapped around me in order to try and choke me to death. If she weren't then I would have to pry a very angry (and jealous), Rose Hathaway away from Pandora, not that she has anything to worry about, but still, she gets jealous of other women looking at me, and I get jealous of other men who hit on her so I guess I can't really blame her for feeling jealous without being hypocritical.

Pandora yawned. "Well, it was great hanging out with y'all, but I'm exhausted. Goodnight." Eddie looked very hesitant to let her go, but he must have figured it was okay. She turned away and headed towards the kitchen, which I assume you have to pass through to get to the bedrooms, since the only other door was the entrance to the apartment.

"Nice to meet you guys, see you in the morning." She said without turning around. "Wait, we're staying here tonight?" Jill asked. "Well, we were supposed to eat dinner then continue driving back to court then stop at a hotel for the night after driving for a few hours." I said, only just now did I remember that we had a schedule we were supposed to follow.

"Whatever, if you all want to go then you know where the door is, if not, then you can stay here or I can tell you where the nearest hotel is. As long as nobody bothers me at night and I can go to bed soon, then I really don't care what you do." Pandora said, who had come back towards the living room and was leaning against the doorframe to the kitchen.

I looked at Lissa. It was her decision. I really didn't feel like driving at the moment, but if she wanted to go, then I'd be more than willing to do so.

"If everyone else is okay with it then could we maybe stay here?" She asked, as always, she took everyone else's wants and needs into consideration before her own. It was part of what made her a great queen. Everyone nodded and murmured in agreement, well, Christian, Jill, Sydney and Adrian did. It wasn't up to Rose, Eddie, and I to decide, it was their choice, we just go along with it and make sure they're not in any danger.

"Okay, sounds good. Someone can take the couch, there's a pop-out mattress that can hold up to four of you, although I'm guessing that you'd prefer it if you didn't have to share with more than one other person if any. Two people can take Ivan's bed, although there's no guarantee that you won't catch the plague or something if you stay in there. Two people can sleep in my room, Dimitri can sleep outside the door as well as anyone else who wants to join him. I call under the kitchen table and Ivan, you're on your own." She finished. "One of us needs to keep watch just in case." I said to Rose and Eddie.

"No you don't, I've got a barrier around this place that'll burn any strigoi alive if they get within 5 feet of it. They'll be a pile of ashes in less than 15 seconds. If any unwanted moroi, dampers, or humans then they'll be locked out. The walls on the outside are concrete and the front entrance is locked and made of plexi-glass or some other shit that's impossible to scratch. The only other way to get into this place is through either a window, which is also made of plexi-glass, or the fire escape on each level, which will collapse if anything heavier than a pigeon steps foot on it. You're all safe." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "Unless of course there happens to be a fire, if so then I'm sure that I'll run into at least one of you guys in hell. And with that said, goodnight." This time when she turned and walked out of the room, instead of hearing footsteps, I hear chairs scratching the floor as the were moved out of the way, probably so that Pandora could have enough room to sleep under the table.

Eventually, we all got sorted out, and although I knew that Rose and Eddie were hesitant, eventually everyone had figured out where they were sleeping. Jill and Eddie were in the living room. Rose and I were originally going to stay there for safety precautions but when Adrian made a suggestive remark, Pandora made a rule that due to the fact that there isn't a door between the Kitchen and the living room, only Jill and Eddie were aloud to sleep in there since they weren't in a relationship. So Jill and Eddie got the living room (Jill on the bed and Eddie on the floor as per Pandora's instructions), Ivan offered Rose and I his room, and much to my dismay, Rose thanked him and said that we would take up his offer, clearly thinking that Pandora was kidding when she said that someone would likely catch some weird disease if they stayed in there. Adrian and Sydney took the side opposite of Jill and Eddie on an air mattress that was moved to the living room. Christian and Lissa took Pandora's room since Pandora refused to let them sleep on the floor or the couch. Christian and Lissa both immediately agreed on Pandora's room, since other than the bookshelves crammed with books, the room was neat, clean and nothing like Ivan's. Finally, Ivan, much to his and Pandora's dislike, was sleeping in the kitchen as well, him on a sleeping bag near the sink, and her in one under the table. Ruby ended up staying with Lissa and Christian. Lissa was ecstatic about it, but Christian on the other hand was anything but.

_If nothing else comes up in the morning, then we can get back on the road and we'll be at court and at home in less than two days._ I thought to myself before I finally fell asleep, unable to keep my eyes open any longer.

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**So? What do you all think? Will everything go smoothly for the VA crew from this point on? Of course not, then there'd be no point in having this story since it'd be no fun for me to write! But don't tell anyone I told you! Anyways, Please R&R!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey ya'll! So, I realized that some of the partds in previous chapters may be confusing, such as the whole think with the Pandora asking Dimitri if he was going to come with her or leave them like last time, well, in case anyone didn't get it, she was talking about Ivan (who was dead at the time, yes, but whatever). Also, in the Previous chapter, when Pandora had Dimitri in a choke hold; she lost her temper (which could clearly rival Rose's), and was just trying to cut his air supply off so that he's pass out, not kill him, which is why nobody made a really big deal about it. Also, when Dimitri commented that he didn't want to crush her to death and that he was at least two times heavier than she was, keep in mind that he's 6'7", and so it isn't outrageous that he's weigh 200+ pounds with all the muscle and stuff, and Pandora weighs around 100lbs. (very underweight for her height and age but fucking deal with it). So yeah, that's about it. Also, the story currently takes place in Carson City, Nevada. That's about it I think... Sooo, hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: All Rights belong to Richelle Mead**

**Enjoy!**

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If nothing else comes up in the morning, then we can get back on the road and we'll be at court, and at home, in less than two days. _I thought to myself before I finally fell asleep, unable to keep my eyes open any longer._

**Rose POV**

For a while, I've been trying to convince Dimitri that we should get a dog, and he, of course, wouldn't agree no matter how much I pestered him about it. After being woken up with a tongue being shoved down my throat though, I've decided that dogs are nothing but a pain in the ass. If it was Dimitri's tongue shoved down my throat, then I'd be totally fine, but when it's a dog's, it's not so great. I used up the rest of Pandora and Ivan's mouthwash (although it was only about half-way full), and I still can't get the taste of dog out of my mouth. I mean yeah, animals don't like generally dhampers, but seriously? I think that nearly choking me to death is a bit much. So Dimitri was right, dogs are nothing but trouble.

After my failed attempt to get the taste of dog out of my mouth, I went into the Living room and met a very unhappy looking Pandora, who was leaning on the door frame of the kitchen glaring at me. She had bags under her eyes, and was wearing a navy blue tank top and black flannel pajama bottoms with paint-splatters printed all over.

"Hey, could you tell your dog that most people don't appreciate having a tongue shoved down there throat while they're asleep?" I asked, trying to walk past her. She quickly moved to block my entrance.

"I could but she doesn't speak English. Not to mention that I'm would be pretty pissed off too if the occupants of the room next to mine were moaning and grunting until 4 in the morning, so you deserved it." She said, giving me one last glare before stomping over to the coffee table and sat down cross-legged on the floor. Her forehead made a loud bang as it made contact with the tabletop. I looked to see everyone was already up, and the dog was looking at me with those stupid-ass bright puppy eyes, wagging her tail happily. I just narrowed my eyes at it. _You can't fool me with those fucking adorable eyes and tail._ I screamed at it mentally. She just barked at me, as if she had heard my thoughts.

"Morning Little Dhamper" said Adrian, a smug expression taking over his features. "Sounded like you and Cradle Robber had a pretty wild night." He continued, wiggling his eyebrows. Ivan and Christian snorted at this. Eddie and Lissa fought to keep their smirks hidden, but the edged of their lips were slightly curved. Sydney was leaning her head against Adrian's Shoulder, her eyes closed, and Jill was humming happily to herself. Pandora still had her forehead resting on the table, and I wondered if she had fallen back to sleep. Dimitri was caught up in his own little world, his coffee in one hand and western novel in the other. I walked over to Dimitri and as I approached he looked up and smiled at me.

"Morning Roza", he said, smiling at me. I smiled back and went over to him and sat in his lap, leaning my head on his chest. He chuckled and kissed the top of my hair before going back to his book. I closed my eyes and inhaled his intoxicating scent. It made me want to melt into him and fall asleep. I almost succeeded, except Ivan's voice caught me before I could.

"Hey Dimka, just so you know I expect you to change the sheets and clean anything else that you guys came in contact with last night." Ivan said smirking. Dimitri just sighed and continued reading.

"I'm going to have nightmares for the rest of my life after that" Christian said, shuddering.

"Dude, I need food" mumbled Pandora, who was now resting her chin on her forearms, eyes only half open.

"The kitchen's right through that door and there's cereal in the cabinet on the right, milk is in the fridge bowls are stacked up on the counter and spoons are in the drawer next to the sink. Feel free to help yourself" Ivan said. Pandora looked up at him in disbelief.

"I know where everything is smart-ass. And just for future reference, the cereal is in the pantry on the _left, _not the right you idiot." She said as she got up and headed towards the kitchen, shaking her head in disbelief. Ivan just shrugged it off.

When she came back she had a box of Cheerios in one hand, a bowl of dog food in the other. She sat down and dumped a pile of cheerios on the table and placed the bowl on the ground. The dog ran over and immediately started inhaling her food. When it was done, it put its paws up on the table, her tail wagging, and tongue hanging out of her mouth. Pandora looked over at the dog and Smiled.

"Who's a good girl? Hmm? Are you my good girl? Yes you are, yes, yes you little puppy wuppy. Yeah, you my good girl…" Pandora cooed at the dog, scratching her ears and tummy. I looked over at Dimitri giving him a 'what the fuck is she doing' look. He just shrugged in return and took another sip of his coffee, his book lying closed next to the chair on the floor. We sat there, looking at each other in the eye, lost in our own little world. After a few minutes, his phone started vibrating. I snuggled back up against him and closed my eyes while he spoke on the phone, not paying attention to what it was he was actually saying.

"… Alright …Understood …We'll be sure to take extra precautions... Thank you" was what I caught. When he hung up, he had a worried look sketched onto his face, which immediately disappeared and was replaced with his guardian mask as he looked up at everyone. I, as well as the others, looked at him expectantly. Pandora was still cooing at the dog quietly, while also looking at him waiting for him to say something. I noticed a glint of hate, pain, and betrayal show in her steel grey eyes before they cleared of all emotion. _What was that about? _I thought to myself, before giving Dimitri my complete attention.

"That was Hans" he began, worry clear in his voice. "He informed me that we won't be able to go back to court for at least a couple of weeks" he continued. Worry started to fill my head as well. "There's been an attack, and they think that it involved someone on the inside, so they're trying to figure out who it is. While they do that, Hans said that because we are already away from court, that it would be best to keep our distance until they figure everything out. They don't want to take any unnecessary risks." He finished.

"How bad was it?" Jill asked quietly. "He said that there was a lot of damage done and it would take a bit of time for everything at court to get back in order." Replied Dimitri.

"Was anyone hurt or killed?" Asked Lissa, her eyes glassy with unshed tears. "Unfortunately yes. Nearly a dozen royal and non-royal moroi were killed, even more injured. At least thirty-five guardians were killed, and many who are severely injured most likely won't make it. Nearly everyone was injured during the attack, some more severe than others." He responded quietly.

"Then we have to go back. Adri-", I cut Lissa off. "Liss, I know you want to help, but the best thing you can do is stay safe. Things at court are a mess already, if you were to go back then it would only cause the guardians who are still able to work more stress because they'll be worried about you. If something were to happen to you, then everything would become chaos." I told her softly. She looked down and sniffled. "Okay", she replied quietly. She then buried her face in Christian's chest, who patted her hair and spoke to her softly, soothing her.

"So does this mean that we are going to stay here or what?" Adrian murmured quietly. I was surprised when Pandora spoke up.

"If you all need a place to stay then you're more than welcome to stay here for as long as you need" She spoke. I was even more surprised that she sounded sincere. Five minutes ago she had clearly not liked Dimitri and the rest of us being here, but now she was willing to let us stay for as long as we needed? I was even more confused about her. I looked at Lissa, waiting for her to answer.

"If you're sure that it's not too much trouble then we thank you for your help." She gave them a small smile, her eyes still watery.

"Well then, I guess it's settled" Ivan began, "you guys get to camp out with us."

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**So? What do you think is going to happen? Will Pandora and Dimitri end up killing each other? Very Possible! Will Rose (and everyone else for that matter), figure out why Pandora hates Dimitri so much (and how she knows him and Ivan for that matter)? Most likely. Will the story have a happy ending? Eh, we'll see. Please R&R!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

_"If you all need a place to stay then you're more than welcome to stay here for as long as you need" She spoke. I was even more surprised that she sounded sincere. Five minutes ago she had clearly not liked Dimitri and the rest of us being here, but now she was willing to let us stay for as long as we needed? I was even more confused about her. I looked at Lissa, waiting for her to answer._

_"If you're sure that it's not too much trouble then we thank you for your help." She gave them a small smile, her eyes still watery._

_"Well then, I guess it's settled" Ivan began, "you guys get to camp out with us."_

**Dimitri POV**

I had to admit, while Pandora and Ivan may get on my nerves at most times, I was actually looking forward to spending time with Ivan. I love Roza but I miss hanging out with my best friend all day. Sure, he could be a pain in the ass, and was completely irresponsible, but he was still my best friend. Pandora on the other hand, I could have gone a few more years without running into her.

We sat around and did pretty much nothing for about an hour or two until Ivan stated that he should be getting ready for work. Jill, Lissa, Christian, Eddie, Adrian, and Sydney were all elsewhere, while Rose, Pandora and I were in the living room. I don't know why he was working, I mean its great that he found something to do other than play Xbox all day, but the Zeklos' had more than enough money to last them a lifetime or two just as every other royal moroi family does, but if he wanted to work, then I wasn't going to stop him, although there was one important detail that I was curious about. I was about to ask, but Rose spoke up before me.

"Who keeps an eye on you while you're working? I mean, you may not have any guardians assigned to you, but isn't there someone who makes sure your safe?" She mumbled, as Ivan was about to open the door to leave. She was curled up next to me, her eyes closed and head resting on my chest. I wrapped an arm around her. She was clearly exhausted, and I briefly wondered how she managed to speak some-what clearly while in her sleep-induced state.

"What makes you think I don't have any guardians?" He asked, clearly amused.

"Because A) you're supposed to be dead and B) you aren't worthy enough for anyone to attack, and therefore, you have no need for protection." Pandora responded. She was leaning against the door frame that lead into the kitchen, arms crossed and a smirk planted on her face. The dog was just sitting right next to her food, tail wagging with her head up and alert.

Ivan just mumbled something under his breath, before walking out the door without looking back or saying goodbye. The door was slammed shut, and I looked over at Pandora disapprovingly. When she noticed that I was looking at her, she stuck out her tongue at me, I just rolled my eyes and sighed in response.

"What?" Pandora asked defensively. "I didn't do anything."

"I didn't say anything. Although, yes, you did do something." I replied.

"No I didn't."

"I'm not having this argument with you", I said, looking back down at my book. Roza was still curled up next to me and appeared to have fallen back asleep. I smiled to myself at the sight. She looked so peaceful and I hoped that I wouldn't have to wake her any time soon.

"Good, because I have homework that I have to do before we leave and I don't feel like wasting my time and energy arguing with an inferior being such as yourself." She stood up straight and walked away, most likely to her room where she could get whatever work she has to do done. _Wait,_ I thought to myself, just realizing what she had said, _what did she mean,'before we leave'? _Where were was she going, and did the 'we' part mean that Lissa, Christian, Adrian, and all the others were included in whatever it is she seems to be planning?

I briefly debated as to whether or not I should go after her and ask, but decided not to. Realistically she wouldn't tell me if I asked, so I might as well just stay here with Roza. I shook my head, clearing my mind and went back to my book.

The rest of the afternoon was fairly quiet and I hadn't realized that I had fallen asleep until someone hit me on the back of the head with something. I opened my eyes and my hand instinctively reached back to rub where I had been hit. I looked around and noticed that Ivan was back from work and everyone was sitting in the living room doing there own thing. Ivan and Christian were playing Xbox while Adrian sat on the ground watching them, Sydney reading while sitting in his lap. Rose was still curled up next to me, but was talking to Lissa, who sat beside her. Jill was playing with Ruby, who appeared to be loving the attention, while talking to Eddie. I looked around to see where Pandora was and spotted her hauling a stack of cardboard boxes to the front and setting them down at the door before going back to retrieve another one from who-knows-where. I was about to her what she was doing, but lost my chance as she threw a book at my head. I shifted to the side in attempt to avoid it and just barely succeeded.

"Quit it will you?!" I asked her, knowing that she would continue to throw things at me in between her moving the cardboard boxes. She just looked at me and crossed her arms.

"No." She stated simply.

"What are you doing anyways?" I asked her, curious as to what the cardboard boxes held.

"I'm coloring" she said sarcastically "what does it look like I'm doing Einstein?" I decided to not respond to her, not really in the mood for doing anything that included Pandora in some way.

"Seriously? You're just going to sit there? Get your lazy ass up and help me damnit" she said before turning back towards the kitchen most likely going to grab more boxes. I got up to see what it was she was doing and wasn't paying attention when I ran into her, causing the contents of the box she was holding to spill out.

"Damnit!" She cursed, as she knelt down to pick up whatever it was that had spilled. I knelt down to help her and as I was helping, I couldn't help but make note of some of the objects that had fallen out of her box.

_Compass… matches… flashlights… a rolled-up sleeping bag… re-usable water bottles… arrows…_

Then it hit me, _camping_. These were the kinds of things you would take on a camping trip (minus the arrows). Everything clicked together suddenly.

_'You guys get to camp out with us.'_

_'I have homework to do before we leave.'_

I groaned internally, standing up and pinching the bridge of my nose. _You have got to be kidding me_, I thought to myself. _Of all the things that they could have been planning to do it had to be camping. _

"You gonna stand there and feel sorry for yourself or are you gonna help me move this shit?" Pandora asked, holding the box under one arm while resting her other hand on her hip. I groaned out loud, shaking my head before burying my face in my hands.

"You're kidding right? Would it have killed you to give us a heads up that you had plans before we decided to stay?" I asked, already knowing what her response would be.

"Yup" She replied, "there's a few more sleeping bags and tents in the closet that I need you to grab, you can just set them down by all the other stuff" she said, pointing to the pile of boxes laying by the door. I was about to say something to Pandora when Rose spoke up.

"Wait, we're going camping? As in outside, middle of nowhere, wilderness kind of camping?" She said, looking between Pandora and I, a look of disbelief plastered on her face.

"No, we'll find somewhere else to st-" I was cut off abruptly when Lissa spoke up.

"Oh! Camping sounds fun! It's been a while since we've done anything like that" she said, clearly excited by the idea of camping. "Would it be to much of me to ask if we could maybe go with you? I mean, I'll have to ask and see what the others want to do first but if they do then can we?" Her whole face seemed to be glowing and the excitement seemed to be radiating off of her in waves.

"Yeah, sure, if you guys want." Pandora said shrugging. This caused Lissa to squeal in delight.

"Yay! I'll be right back, I'm going to see what everyone else thinks." She hurried off to ask everyone else if they wanted to camp, and I couldn't help but notice that there was a bounce in her step, showing that she truly was excited by the idea. I sighed internally. After a minute or so, she came back with a huge grin on her face.

"All the others said that they would love it if we could all come with you two." Lissa announced very happily.

"Alrighty then," Pandora began, "y'all better start helping me get this shit together. We leave at 5:15, meaning we have", she looked at her watch, "23 minutes until we need to head out."

"Where are we going? Are we driving? Do we have enough stuff for everyone?" Lissa asked.

"We can pick up some more stuff on the way there, and no we aren't driving, we're taking a train, which you all will have to purchase tickets for." Answered Pandora.

"Where are we going though?" Christian asked. I looked over my shoulder to see that everyone had stopped what they were doing and had all gathered in the kitchen. Pandora either didn't hear his question, or just ignored it as she went on to inform us that we would need passports and 'all that good stuff', in order for us to go. She rambled on for about thirty seconds or so before Christian interrupted her.

"Okay, we got all that", Christian began, "but where are we going?"

Happiness shown in her eyes and excitement laced into her words as she answered.

"Alaska", she answered, a smile lighting up her face.


End file.
